Introduction

A thumbnail sketch

Although based in the English department, the group is open to all students of the university. It is not a club. There is no fixed membership. One play is usually presented every semester, the group consisting of all those who have a role in the current production. In practice, each production’s cast consists of roughly a third who have played in two or more productions, a third who have already been in one production, and a third who are entirely new. The director has been there since the beginning.

The production style is economical, with emphasis on voice, body and movement. Staging tends to be minimalistic and basic with regard to scenery, sound and lighting. A decisive influence on production style and choice of play is the fact that there are usually at least fifteen people eager to participate, the majority of them women. Most modern plays in English have relatively small (and predominantly male) casts and are more or less naturalistic in that they do not work well if women play male parts. The group therefore tends to favour non-naturalistic drama, as can be seen from the production history.

The university has no theatre of its own, so the English Theatre Group uses performance spaces elsewhere. At present, we have a good working relationship with the Theater in der List e. V. and hold our performances there.